March 13, 2015 — GeomarketingOn Monday, the public had some of their key questions about the Apple Watch answered, as the product was officially unveiled. But many marketers still don’t quite know what to expect insofar as how they can use the hi-tech gadget to target consumers. It will take some time before they figure it all out.

Considering the heightened debate and speculation about what advertising even means when it comes to wearables, wearables, and the Internet of Things, this is the time for brands, agencies, and tech providers to start producing a game plan.

Part of why advertisers don’t generally have a particular set of strategies in place is because the wearables space is such nascent territory. While Apple may help vastly develop it, there are still an abundance of unknowns.

March 13, 2015 — MediaPost Ayuda Media Systems, an out-of-home (OOH) ad company that created a billboard management system for buying and selling outdoor ad inventory online, this week announced it has launched four private marketplaces for DOOH (digital out-of-home) media sellers.

In a statement, Andreas Soupilotis, founder and CEO of Ayuda, said the company is transitioning from a resource planning software firm to a supply-side platform (SSP) for the OOH ad industry.

March 11, 2015 — GeomarketingThe wider adoption of geomarketing practices by west coast companies in the entertainment and automotive businesses has spurred Verve Mobile to expand its Los Angeles operations. To lead the outreach, the location ad tech player has hired magazine sales exec turned tech entrepreneur David Wade.

Specifically, Wade is taking on the newly-created post of SVP of market development. In this role, he is charged with building up Verve’s west coast sales organization in addition to striking strategic partnerships and serving the company’s regional customer base.

The west coast focus comes as New York-based Verve has become a fuller location-based programmatic platform, shifting out of its mobile ad network origins. The company has been working on setting up a private marketplace that allows its publisher partners more control over pricing and inventory availability to advertisers looking to buy location-based ad space.

February 27, 2015 — ADOTASFor years we’ve heard “this year is the year of mobile.” Premature as that was in 2012, it’s safe to say that marketers have quietly reached mass adoption. In a natural evolution, marketers and agencies have begun exploring how to leverage mobile data and technology programmatically to boost campaign efficiency and effectiveness. Yet, the biggest hurdle to flawless execution isn’t the complexity of the programmatic ecosystem; it’s an inability to apply the lessons learned from the more than five years of programmatic buying online.

February 17, 2015 — AdExchangerThe ad network, known historically as a desktop display player, announced Tuesday the launch of Local Lift, a tool that purports to drive in-store foot traffic and measure the results by connecting mobile clicks to store visits.

Although this isn’t Rocket Fuel’s first foray into mobile – itlaunched a mobile ad suite last year – Local Lift represents somewhat of an evolution for Rocket Fuel, a company which former [x+1] CEO John Nardone, now Rocket Fuel’s EVP and general manager, once referred to simply as “a programmatic marketing platform.” Rocket Fuel acquired hybrid DSP/DMP [x+1] in August for roughly $230 million.

According to Rocket Fuel, the company sees latitude/longitude on about 40% of its 593 billion or so US-based bid requests. Local Lift is looking to capitalize on that need through a partnership with location analytics company Placed. Rocket Fuel and Placed have been working together since mid-2014.